The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that formed in Toronto, Canada in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and named after the traditional song "

The Irish Rover "The Irish Rover" ( Roud 4379) is an Irish folk song about a magnificent though improbable sailing ship that reaches an unfortunate end. It has been recorded by numerous artists, with the lyrics changing over time due to the folk process. T ...

". They are best known for their international television series, contributing to the popularization of

Irish music Irish music is music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland. The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music (or Irish folk music). It has remained vibrant through the 20th and into the 21st ...

in North America, and for the songs " The Unicorn", "

Drunken Sailor "Drunken Sailor", also known as "What Shall We Do with a/the Drunken Sailor?" or "Up She Rises", is a traditional sea shanty, listed as List of folk songs by Roud number, No. 322 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It was sung aboard sailing ships at ...

", "Wasn't That a Party", " The Orange and the Green", " Whiskey on a Sunday", " Lily the Pink", "

Finnegan's Wake "Finnegan's Wake" ( Roud 1009) is an Irish-American comic folk ballad, first published in New York in 1864. Various 19th-century variety theatre performers, including Dan Bryant of Bryant's Minstrels, claimed authorship but a definitive account ...

" and "

The Black Velvet Band "The Black Velvet Band" ( Roud number 2146) is a traditional folk song collected from singers in Ireland describing how a young man is tricked and then sentenced to transportation to Australia, a common punishment in the British Empire during th ...

". The primary voices heard in the group's early songs were

Will Millar Will Millar (born 1940) is a Northern Irish-Canadian singer best known as a co-founding member of The Irish Rovers. Until his departure in 1995, he was the group's front man. He plays guitar, banjo, mandolin and tin whistle. Early life and car ...

(tenor),

Jimmy Ferguson James Francis Ferguson (February 26, 1940 – October 8, 1997) was a founding member of the Irish-Canadian folk group The Irish Rovers. He was the only member who did not play an instrument. He sang in a rich baritone voice, in contrast to ...

(baritone), George Millar and Joe Millar, and in the last twenty years, also John Reynolds and Ian Millar. Wilcil McDowell's accordion was a signature sound of the band for more than fifty five years, until his retirement in 2020. Jimmy Keane joined the group on accordion the following year Founding member George Millar and his cousin Ian are both from

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, making it the List of localities in Northern Ireland by population, seven ...

, Davey Walker from Armagh, Sean O'Driscoll from

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, Gerry O'Connor from Dundalk, percussionist Fred Graham from Belfast. Flute and whistle player

Geoffrey Kelly Geoffrey Kelly (born October 23, 1956, in Dumfries, Scotland) is a Canadian rock musician. He played guitars, flutes and bodhrán for the folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and Amer ...

was born in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

, Scotland. In the 1980s, the group briefly renamed itself The Rovers. During this period, their song "Wasn't That a Party" led to crossover success in the country rock genre. The Irish Rovers have represented Canada at five World Expos, and in 2018 were honoured as one of Ireland's greatest exports at Dublin, Ireland's EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum. In 2023, they celebrated their 60th Anniversary, and their song, "Hey Boys Sing Us A Song" was nominated for Single of the Year in the

Canadian Folk Music Awards The Canadian Folk Music Awards are an annual music awards ceremony presenting awards in a variety of categories for achievements in both traditional and contemporary folk music, and other roots music genres, by Canadian musicians. The awards pr ...

History

Northern Ireland

The brothers George Millar and

were both born in

, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The children grew up in a musical household as their father Bob played button-key accordion for several bands throughout the years. Their cousin Joe Millar, who also sang, took part in the family kitchen parties playing button-key accordion and harmonica. As children, George and Will performed with their sister,

Sandra Beech Sandra Beech (born Sandra Millar 1942 Indicated age 48. in Ballymena, Northern Ireland) is an Irish-Canadian children's musician. She was a member of the family music group The Musical Millars after relocating to Canada in 1953. After her 1964 m ...

as "The Millar Kids" in Ireland, before the family emigrated to Canada.

The early years

In 1963, George met fellow Irish native

at an Irish function in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. They sang together until dawn, and founded the Irish Rovers. According to a Calgary Herald article in 1971, "George and Jimmy formed the first Irish Rovers for an amateur variety show in Toronto and won." George's cousin, Joe also soon emigrated to Toronto and was recruited as he stepped off the plane. The name "The Irish Rovers" was suggested by George's mother. The traditional Irish song about a sailing ship had been a favourite from their kitchen parties in Ballymena. For a short time, George, Jimmy and Joe were joined by Vic Marcus and Doug Henderson. George's father, Bob, became The Irish Rovers's first manager booking the new band at folk song festivals, clubs, hootenannies and The Port o' Call. According to a 1964 newspaper in the Millars' home town in Ireland, "The folk singing 'boom' in the United States and Canada proved profitable for three young Ballymena men who form the nucleus of a popular, Toronto-based group who call themselves 'The Irish Rovers.'" In the early 60s,

and his friend Brian Evans performed in a Toronto Calypso group, The Kalypso Kews. After moving to Calgary, Will formed a folk trio in Calgary along with another Ulster native, Derek Swinson. He also developed quite a following singing at Phil's Pancake House, and then landing a job singing on Calgary's ''Just 4 Fun'', a local TV show for children. "We would go in, singing Irish songs like 'Whiskey, you're the devil' on the show", a quote from their "Best of the Irish Rovers" album CD case booklet. In the latter half of 1964, after more than six months performing in the Toronto area, George, Jimmy and Joe left to visit Will in Calgary. In 1979, Jimmy told ''Canadian Music Magazine'', "We actually formed the group in Toronto. I sang, George played guitar and at that time Joe was playing a little button key accordion. We were ambitious in those days, we'd played the clubs to death in Toronto and we didn't know what to do next; what direction to take. So we decided to visit Will in Calgary, ended up staying there, and the Irish Rovers became four." Joe moved his family out from Toronto, and the band continued in Calgary. George was enrolled in a local Calgary high school and Jimmy worked at a local Calgary slaughter house. Jimmy's job would last but a few hours. George soon quit school and Will's home became the new home base for the band. The Irish Rovers became regulars at Calgary's Depression Coffeehouse, a folk club operated by John Uren that also contributed to the start of

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

's career.

Down to "Americay"

Will introduced the group to his manager Les Weinstein who became the band's full-time manager, while Will became the band leader. The Rovers drove to California in 1966, ( they appeared at the Ice House in 1965) hoping to perform in the folk clubs there. On the way, their car broke down near Dinucci's Restaurant in Valley Ford, CA which was briefly owned by two Irish immigrants Jerry Murphy and Peter Moran. The boys were given room and board and an introduction to Jan Brainerd, a booking agent who helped them secure an appearance at

The Purple Onion The Purple Onion was a celebrated cellar club in the North Beach area of San Francisco, California, located at 140 Columbus Avenue (between Jackson and Pacific). With an intimate, 80-person setting, the club was a popular influence in local musi ...

in San Francisco where they played sold-out houses for five months. The group was then booked at other folk clubs across California. The area they stayed at on this booking became the inspiration for their song "Mrs. Crandall's Boarding House", according to their 1999 album ''The best of the Irish Rovers'' (which has a booklet in the front of its CD case). In 1966, the Rovers signed a recording contract with

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

with Charles Dant and recorded their first album, '' The First of the Irish Rovers,'' at The Ice House in Pasadena. The album was successful enough to warrant another album, which included their first hit, which was from a song originally written and recorded in 1962 by

Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, cartoonist, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into ...

, '' The Unicorn.''

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

played guitar on the original recording. After recording the album, Joe left the band for a more "reliable" income for a family man. It was at this time that they invited All-Ireland Champion Wilcil McDowell to join the band. After the success of "The Unicorn", Joe returned to the band. The album included the Irish tunes " The Orange and the Green" and "

". Wilcil's accordion has continued to be a signature sound of the band. Starting in the late 60s, the Irish Rovers performed on various North American television programs including several appearances on the TV western '' The Virginian,'' as well as ''

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' is an American television comedy, comedy and variety show television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969. The series was a major success, especially consid ...

,'' ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...

,'' ''

The Dating Game ''The Dating Game'' is an American television game show that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it ...

,'' ''

The Pig and Whistle ''The Pig and Whistle'' was a Canadian musical television series aired on the CTV television network from 1967 to 1977. Filmed in Toronto, Ontario but set in a fictional English pub, the show featured an assortment of Canadian, British and Iris ...

,'' and ''

The Beachcombers ''The Beachcombers'' is a Canadian comedy drama television series that ran on CBC Television from October 1, 1972, to December 12, 1990. With over 350 episodes, it is one of the longest-running dramatic series ever made for Canadian English-langu ...

.'' In 1968, they were named "Folk Group of the Year" by the predecessor of the

JUNO Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

s, and in 1969 they received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for "Folk Performance of the Year".

The Rovers era

In the early 1980s, the group adjusted its style and began aiming itself towards the country-rock field. Renamed The Rovers, the group scored a major international hit with "Wasn't That a Party" and also found success with the Christmas novelty recording "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer". By the late 1980s, however, the group had reverted to their original Irish Rovers branding.

On television

In 1971, The Irish Rovers were offered their own CBC-produced television series, ''The Irish Rovers Show''. While entertaining a family audience, the show promoted Ireland and Irish music to North Americans. Guest stars included their friends

The Clancy Brothers The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularisi ...

and

Tommy Makem Thomas Makem (4 November 1932 – 1 August 2007) was an Irish folk music, folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, tin whistle, l ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor who performed Pop music, pop, Swing music, swing, Folk music, folk, rock and roll, and country music. Darin started ...

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 1917 – 18 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is Honorific nicknames in popular music, honorifically known ...

and

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian country, pop and adult contemporary music singer who has sold over 55 million album copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray has won four Grammys including the Grammy ...

. Visits from

Shari Lewis Shari Lewis (born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz; January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was a Peabody awards, Peabody-winning American Ventriloquism, ventriloquist, puppeteer, children's entertainer, television show host, dancer, singer, actress, author, a ...

and her puppets, including Lamb Chop, were audience favourites. There were regularly taped visits to Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, New Zealand, P.E.I., Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Banff and even Alert – at the tip of Ellesmere Island – the farthest, northerly inhabited base in the world. "The Irish Rovers Show" ran for 7 years, winning an

ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards are Canadian accolades presented since 1972 to celebrate excellence in cinema, television and radio industries.Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language, English-language terrestrial television, terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's se ...

in conjunction with

Ulster Television UTV (formerly Ulster Television, branded on air as ITV1 since 2020) is the ITV (TV network), ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the ar ...

in Ireland. Although most of their music focuses on the band's Irish roots, in the early 1980s The Irish Rovers recorded an unknown novelty Christmas song written by Randy Brooks. Record producer Jack Richardson produced The Rovers' album, ''It Was A Night Like This.'' The single release of "

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" is a novelty Christmas song. Written by Randy Brooks, the song was originally performed by Elmo Shropshire in 1979 under the brand of Elmo and Patsy, the double act Shropshire had with his then-wife Patsy Trig ...

" rose to the top 20 in Canada within a week of airplay. Exposure of the music on television also added to the popularity of their music. In 1980, their crossover hit recording of

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter whose career spans more than sixty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

's "Wasn't That a Party", which was inspired by the boys' own after-show partying, put them at the top of the charts again. In 1981, the group starred in their second Canadian TV series: ''The Rovers Comedy House,'' a seven-part CBC series of comedy and boisterous Irish music produced by Ken Gibson. For most of the 1980s the band was known as "The Rovers" and followed up hits with songs such as "

Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" (also known as "Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy") is a popular song written by Harry Stone and Jack Stapp and published in 1950. It is the signature song of Red Foley who recorded it in late 1949. The song has been cover ...

" and "No More Bread and Butter". Their third television series, ''Party with the Rovers,'' ran from 1984 to 1986 with Jack Richardson as musical director and Ken Gibson as Executive Producer. The show was set in a traditional pub setting featuring music sessions with the band performing together with

Liam Clancy Liam Clancy (; 2 September 1935 – 4 December 2009) was an Irish folk singer from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest member of the influential folk group the Clancy Brothers, regarded as Ireland's first pop stars. They achi ...

John Allan Cameron John Allan Cameron, (16 December 1938 – 22 November 2006) was a Canadian folk singer, "The Godfather of Celtic Music" in Canada. Noted for performing traditional music on his twelve string guitar, he released his first album in 1969. He r ...

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002) was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought ...

Andy Gibb Andrew Roy Gibb (5 March 1958 – 10 March 1988) was an English singer and songwriter. He was the younger brother of Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, musicians who had formed the Bee Gees during the late 1950s. Andy G ...

Rita Coolidge Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on ''Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and th ...

Ronnie Prophet Ronald Lawrence Victor Prophet (26 December 1937 – 2 March 2018) was a Canadian-American country musician and comedy performer. He was born in Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada. In his childhood, Prophet lived in Calumet, Quebec, and began perfo ...

, and many others. The series was produced for

Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

in conjunction with

in Ireland, and was syndicated around the world. The band members became Canadian citizens after Canada's Prime Minister,

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

, asked them to do so, to officially represent Canada around the world. By 1989 they had represented Canada at five world Expos: Montreal (1967), Osaka, Japan (1970), Okinawa, Japan (1976), Vancouver (1986), and Brisbane, Australia (1988). In recognition of their quarter century of contributions of Canadian music to the International music world, they were awarded Canada's top music honour, the Performing Rights Organization's (PROCAN) Harold Moon Award. With their double album ''25th Anniversary Collection'' in 1989, which featured the backing of

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

and songs written by, amongst others,

Randy Bachman Randolph Charles Bachman ( ; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. He was the writer and singer of several hit rock songs, ...

, Bryan Adams and

Jim Vallance James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...

, the band was, once again, officially known as The Irish Rovers, but many fans still refer to them as The Rovers. Will announced his departure in 1994 and has become a successful artist focusing on the Ireland of old as a favourite subject matter. Upon departure, George replaced him as bandleader and hired fellow musicians John Reynolds and Wallace Hood. After a court battle for the name of "The Irish Rovers", the full band continued to tour, then filmed the video ''The Irish Rovers, Live and Well'', plus the CD, ''Celtic Collection: The Next Thirty Years''. Over the following two years they followed up with two more albums, ''Gems'', and ''Come Fill Up Your Glasses''. While the band was on tour in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

in October 1997, Jimmy Ferguson died of a heart attack. For a return to television in 2011, the band filmed the television special, ''The Irish Rovers, Home in Ireland.'' Locations for the special included

Dunluce Castle Dunluce Castle (; ) is a now-ruined medieval castle in Northern Ireland, the seat of Clan MacDonnell. It is located on the edge of a basalt outcropping in County Antrim (between Portballintrae and Portrush), and is accessible via a bridge conn ...

Carnlough Carnlough ( ; ) is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is situated in Mid and East Antrim district, as well the historic Barony (Ireland), barony of Glenarm Lower, and the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parishes of Ardclinis and T ...

Harbour,

Portglenone Portglenone (from , meaning 'landing place of Eoghan's meadow') is a village and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies 8.5 miles (14 km) west of Ballymena. It had a population of 1,174 people in the 2011 Census. Portglen ...

, and various spots along the northeast coast of Northern Ireland. The show was transmitted in 2011 and 2012 across the PBS Network in North America. In 2012 ''The Irish Rovers Christmas'' television special, which was filmed at various locations in

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada, Canada's first National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous ter ...

Sunshine Village Banff Sunshine Village (formerly Sunshine Village) is a ski resort in western Canada, located on the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies within Banff National Park in Alberta and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park in British Columbia. It is ...

and

Chatham-Kent Chatham-Kent (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 103,988) is a Census divisions of Ontario#Single-tier municipalities, single-tier municipality in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is mostly rural, and its population centres are Chatham, Wallac ...

's Capitol Theatre, was shown across the PBS Network throughout the US and Canada and was broadcast in New Zealand on Sky TV. In 2015 The Rovers filmed their own 50th Anniversary LIVE on St. Patrick's Day concert in

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...

, Canada.

Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. was a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian telecommunication, telecommunications company which provided telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. The company was founded in 1966 as Capital Cable Televisio ...

also filmed behind the scenes at the event for a music documentary titled "The Irish Rovers 50th Anniversary Special". It was broadcast nationally in Canada on SHAW Video on Demand in 2015 and 2016. The two-DVD set "LIVE on St. Patrick's Day" which was filmed at The

Port Theatre The Port Theatre is a venue for performing arts, located in Nanaimo, British Columbia Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the ...

on Vancouver Island and Lismore, Ireland, was released in 2017. All three television specials were released on DVD and may be rebroadcast during the holiday seasons.

Rover Records and touring

In 1993 the band formed their own record company, Rover Records, which allowed them artistic freedom that as a younger band they could not afford. George Millar continues to write songs for the band, with Rover Records producing their last sixteen albums including ''Celtic Collection,'' ''Come Fill Up Your Glasses,'' ''Down by the Lagan Side,'' '' Still Rovin' After All These Years,'' and their Greatest Hits albums, ''40 Years a-Rovin','' and ''The Irish Rovers's Gems.'' Their Irish homeland continues to be the primary subject of their music, as in "Erin's Green Isle", "I'll Return", "Dear Little Shamrock Shore", "

", "Home to

Bantry Bay Bantry Bay () is a bay located in County Cork, Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 miles) wide at the head and wide at the entrance. Geograp ...

", "The

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Pub Crawl", and "

Gracehill Fair ''Gracehill Fair'' is the 2010 album release by The Irish Rovers, Rover Records. The album and title track are named after an annual fair in the County Antrim of Northern Ireland. It was recorded in Canada and Ireland, and mixed in Nanaimo, Bri ...

". Recently, their recording of "

" reached a younger audience on YouTube. In 2010, The Irish Rovers marked their 45th anniversary with the release of the CD ''Gracehill Fair,'' which won a local music award on their home base of Vancouver Island. The band returned to the World Music charts in 2011 with their album, ''Home in Ireland.'' In 2012, their single, "The Titanic", released from their ''Drunken Sailor'' album, focused attention on Belfast and the

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

shipyard that had built the ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' a century before. After the song, and accompanyin
video
made headlines in Belfast, N. Ireland, it was also featured in a Canadian documentary for the CBC which aided in returning the credit of building the ship to the Northern Ireland shipyards of

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. The album was produced in response to YouTube activity. The release of ''The Irish Rovers, 50 Years'' compilation album supported their Farewell To Rovin' Tour which will take a few years to complete. They followed that up with the second children's album of their career, "Songs For The Wee Folk", then in 2016 another LIVE album and television special. The 50th anniversary of their famed Unicorn song in 2017 was marked with re-recording the songs and featuring a new sequel to "The Unicorn" and a video that explained what happened to their ill-fated Unicorn for the album "Continuing Story of The Unicorn". Scottish singer

Jimmie Macgregor Jimmie Macgregor (born 10 March 1930) is a Scottish folksinger and broadcaster, best known as half of a singing duo with Robin Hall. Biography Jimmie Macgregor was born in Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in a tenement and then a ...

joined the band for "The Scottish Album, Up Among The Heather" in 2018. 2019 touring took the band across the US and to Ireland where they were honoured in the hometown of Ballymena and in Dublin for all they have done for Ireland and Irish music throughout the world. With the exception of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the band has not taken a break from touring since 1965. Joe Millar retired from the band in 2005 when his son, Ian took up the family ranks. Ian performed with his Dad once on stage before taking over his father's spot. With the recent departure of Wilcil McDowell from touring, the present line-up leaves co-founder George Millar as the only remaining current member tied to the 1960s lineup. The

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic cut short the 2020 release of "Saints And Sinners" album which George wrote and feature
"The Banshee's Cry"
an
"Band Without A Country"
both released with videos. During Covid, bandleader George Millar wrote and produced their latest album, "No End In Sight" which features, "The Wellerman" an
"Hey Boys Sing Us A Song"
which was nominated

Single of the Year. The sold-out 2023 tour was one of the most extensive tours of the last decade.

Personnel

Current members

* George Millar – vocals, guitar, bouzouki (1963–present) *Ian Millar – vocals, bass guitar, guitar (2005–present) *Fred Graham – drums, bodhran, bones, vocals (2007–present) *

– tin whistle, flute, vocals (2008–present) * Gerry O'Connor – fiddle (2013–present) *Davey Walker – keyboards, vocals (2019–present) *Kevin Evans – vocals, guitar (2023–present) *Shane Farrell – banjo, mandolin (2023–present) * Jimmy Keane – accordion (2023–present)

Former members

– vocals (1963–97; died on tour 1997) *Joe Millar – vocals, accordion, harmonica, bass guitar (1963–68 / 1969–2005; died 2023) *Vic Marcus – vocals, bass guitar (1963–64; died 2019) *Doug Henderson – vocals, banjo (1963–64) *

– vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin, tin whistle (1964–94) *

Wilcil McDowell The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that formed in Toronto, Canada in 1963'Irish Rovers are Digging out those old Folk songs', By Ballymena Weekly Editor, Ballymena Weekly Telegraph, N. Ireland – 20 August 1964 and named after the ...

– accordion (1968–2020; retired from touring 2018) *Kevin McKeown – drums, bodhran, bones, vocals (1984–2002) *John Reynolds – vocals, guitar, harmonica (1995–2012; died 2021) *Wallace Hood – mandolin, Irish bouzouki, cittern, tenor banjo, guitar, tin whistle (1995–2005; died 2025) *Sean O'Driscoll – mandolin, tenor banjo, bouzouki, box, vocals (1997–2021) *Paul Lawton – drums, bodhran, bones (2002–2005; died 2005) *Morris Crum – accordion, keyboards, vocals (2012–2021) While the band was on tour in Worcester, Massachusetts, Irish Rovers co-founder

died of a heart attack on October 8, 1997, at the age of 57. Drummer Paul Lawton was killed in a wood chipper in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, on 15 July 2005, at the age of 41. Bass player Vic Marcus died in Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay on 30 August 2019, at age 80. Singer John Reynolds died on 17 February 2021, in his home in

Comox, British Columbia Comox () is a town on the southern coast of the Comox Peninsula in the Strait of Georgia on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Thousands of years ago, the warm dry summers, mild winters, fertile soil, and abundant sea life ...

. Founding Irish Rover Joe Millar died on 10 February 2023, at age 87 after a long battle with Alzheimers. George Millar wrote and dedicated the song "Somebody Loved Me" to Joe.

Honours

* 1968 Winners, RPM Awards (predecessor of the

), "Folk Group of the Year" * 1968

GRAMMY Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Nomination, "Folk Performance of the Year” * 1971 Winners

ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards are Canadian accolades presented since 1972 to celebrate excellence in cinema, television and radio industries.JUNO Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

Nomination, Best Album Cover, "Emigrate! Emigrate!” * 1979 Winners, PROCAN Harold Moon Award for International Achievement for TV Program * 1981

Nomination, Single of the Year, "Wasn’t That A Party” * 1981

Nomination, Folk Artist of the Year * 1982

Nomination, Group of the Year * 1982

Nomination, Country Group of the Year * 1982

Nomination, Folk Artist of the Year * 1983

Nomination, Country Group of the Year * 2010 Winners, VIMA Award (Vancouver Island Music Awards),

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 175,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...

Song of the Year, "Gracehill Fair" * 2023

Nomination, Single of the Year, "Hey Boys Sing Us A Song”

Television specials / VHS & DVD

* ''America's Music: Folk 1 olume 7' – VHS, 1983 * ''Party with the Rovers'' – VHS, 1988 * ''The Irish Rovers Silver Anniversary'' – CBC, 1989 * ''The Irish Rovers Celebrate 30 Years'' – CBC,1994 * ''Celebrate! The First Thirty Years'' – VHS, 1994 * ''Live and Well'' – VHS, 1995 * ''Home In Ireland'' – PBS TV / DVD, 2011 * ''The Irish Rovers Christmas'' – PBS TV / DVD, 2012 * ''50th Anniversary, LIVE on St. Patrick's Day'' – SHAW TV on Demand / 2 DVD Set, 2017

Television Series, International

* ''The Irish Rovers'' – 1971, 7 years. CBC * ''The Rovers Comedy House'' – 1981, 2 years. Global Television / Ulster TV * ''Party with The Rovers'' – 1984, 3 years. Global Television / Ulster TV * ''Superspecial'' – 1980's. CBC

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

*
The Irish Rovers' discography at the Balladeers
*
Canadian Encyclopedia entry

canadianbands.com entry

Entries at 45cat.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Rovers, The Irish folk musical groups Canadian folk music groups Canadian Celtic music groups Musical groups established in 1963 Attic Records (Canada) artists 1963 establishments in Ontario 1950s in Irish music 1960s in Irish music 1970s in Irish music 1980s in Irish music 1990s in Irish music 2000s in Irish music 2010s in Irish music 2020s in Irish music